Nicholls built a simple mock-up app for Shapeways.com, which is sort of like an Etsy for 3D printing enthusiasts. Check out a video of his demo below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mnxDzvL_v0]

This is obviously just a first demo, but it shows some interesting potential for Chromecast, or any advanced screen casting solution for that matter. Instead of confining the shopping experience to just a tablet or phone screen, retailers could give customers the option to look at bigger photos or even videos of a product on the TV screen.

One could even imagine that retailers could use the TV as a kind of in-house hub to enable a social shopping experience, with multiple users finding different products on their mobile devices, and comparing them together on the big screen.

]]>This is neat: Independent Google TV developer Leon Nicholls has managed to control his Google TV device with voice commands straight from Google Now. It’s a bit of a hack, and the setup process is still a bit complicated, but it definitely shows where things are going for Google Now in terms of TV integration.

Check out a demo video shot by Nicholls below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJbzEyXpsKQ]

Nicholls used the Tasker app, as well as a number of other apps and plugins to turn Google TV tasks like the launch of the Netflix app or the changing of the TV channel into Google Now voice commands. That’s a bit tedious, and probably not something every Google TV user is prepared to do.

However, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see similar functionality pop up in Google Now at some point, possibly even with the ability to control a lot more devices: Google and its YouTube team have been working with Netflix and others on establishing a common protocol to launch apps and services on compatible devices.

DIAL, as the protocol is called, is being supported by an increasing number of TV manufacturers, which could mean that Google Now could eventually be used to control a wide variety of devices, much in the same way as demonstrated by Nicholls now, but without the need to do any kind of complicated setup.

]]>Google TV users just got more options to tweak the look and feel of the platform: A new, free app dubbed Open Launcher, once downloaded and installed, replaces the stock Google TV home screen experience with a more tweakable alternative. Right now, it focuses heavily on improving the actual launch bar, but Open Launcher developer Leon Nicholls told me that support for home screen widgets and other enhancements is planned for future releases.

At the center of the Open Launcher app is a customizable app launch bar. Users can add their favorite apps, and even add shortcuts to web apps — something that’s not possible with the regular Google TV launch bar. These favorites can be organized over multiple rows, which users can navigate with the D-Pad of their remote control. Also interesting: Open Launcher makes it possible to add icons for your favorite TV channels to the home screen. Check out a video demo below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7vKkS4fRQM]

Nicholls told me via email that he wants to add wallpapers and widgets and other features in future releases. He also wants to add more functionality to the customizable launch bar:

“The row design of the launcher not only allows users to create and group their favorite apps, but there is the potential of adding new kinds of rows in the future like maybe a YouTube watch later row or even a Netflix instant queue row. The main goal is to give users easy access to the most frequently used content.”

Launcher apps have long been a key feature for Android handset users unhappy with the default look and feel of their handsets, which in many cases have been customized by manufacturers like HTC and Samsung. But this marks the first time that a dedicated launcher app is available for Google TV devices, and it goes to demonstrate that with their shared DNA, many things popular on Android may eventually come to Google TV as well.